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Wednesday, 25 January 2017

Welcome to 'Where When How Wednesday'. In these weekly posts I'll be interviewing creatives about their journey into the creative world, their works, and what makes them tick. This week I'm interviewing Edinburgh based (for the time being) photographic model, Peach.

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for me. We should probably start at the beginning...when and how did you come about getting into the world of modelling?

'It started as a massive fingers up to my ex, who told me that I was too ugly to model. That week I got a photoshoot & dumped him!'

Most things, especially online, tend to fall into specific genres and/or gets described as being a specific style. The trouble with this is it's quite subjective, the style someone views something to be can often differ to the style the person creating it views it as. How would you describe the work you are putting out there?

'Varied. I super love working across a wide variety of genres & meeting different styles of creatives. Being a chameleon is what I love to do and hopefully people book me for that skill.What I like to shoot most is anything that means I can be naked.'

Photography, modelling and their related skills, as with most things, can have their share of problems. I personally have a particular problem with self confidence. This confidence issue can and has caused me issues with my photography. Do you find any aspects of modelling particularly challenging?

'Confidence is not an issue for me, but I currently have been having a lot of issues with disrespectful photographers. This is only a tiny section of people, but it can take a mental strain on you & make you want to give up sometimes. Picking yourself back up & finding new wonderful people to work with makes it worth the stress.'

In my series 'Foto Inspiration Friday' I share the people, images, places etc that I find give me inspiration. Who, or what, or where do you draw inspiration from?

'Coming from an art background means I spend a lot of my time with my head in art books. Contemporary photographers interest me most but I also have a large collection of artist & photographers books from the 1920’s - 60’s that I love looking at. I also read a lot about new photographic styles & techniques as knowing both sides of the camera is important to me & the way I work as a model.'

Sometimes images hold a special significance to us. It can be the first image we ever made, it can be an image drawing attention to a cause close to our hearts, it can simply be an image of someone we love. Do you have an image or images that hold a special significance to you?

'Family photos always stir emotions for me, especially images of those that have passed.'

Photoshoots can sometimes leave you open to scary or funny situations. What's the scariest or funniest situation you've found yourself in on a shoot?

'Oh god, tons but some of the photographers will read this so I have to skip them so they don't get mad!I still think its hilarious that I get paid to roll around on beds for a living, but my funniest shoot to date has been when I got in trouble from the police as a building site had complained about me being naked near to them. Apparently the foreman was annoyed that the builders were being distracted. I got a serious case of the giggles.'

We've talked about your start, we've talked about your current work, let's quickly chat about the future. What have you got coming up this year, more of the same? Any special projects? Plus in regards to a more long term plan, where are you hoping your creative journey will take you in the years to come?

'This year I am only in the UK till April as I am away to Japan & then Australia. Plan is to never come back! Hopefully I can find model work over there.Until then, I am going to work with as many photographers in the UK as I can! Setting up a model weekend with lots of ladies from the 3rd - 5th March & have more studio days (Map studio, natural light studio & synergy studio).In the long run, I hope to keep modelling and seeing where it goes. Never have any fixed plans in life!'

I'd like to thank Peach again for taking the time to answer a few questions for me, be sure to check out all the links above for more of her work, as well as the links attached to the images for the other creatives involved in creating them.

Friday, 20 January 2017

Welcome to 'Foto Inspiration Friday', the series in which I not only use a rarely used alternate spelling of photo for the sake of alliteration, but I share with you anything and everything I find that's inspirational, be it a person, an image, a song, a quote, a place, a pizza...ok, maybe not a pizza but you get the point.

Earlier in January, Antony Armstrong-Jones, better known as Lord Snowdon passed away. Whilst I was aware of his work, I had never seen any form of interview with him so was unaware of his views on photography.

Around the time of Lord Snowdon's passing, I had happened to stumble upon a new YouTube channel, Joe Edelman (whom I'll be writing a post about in the future, after catching up on his back catalogue that is). The first video of Joe's that I happened upon, he shared two quotes attributed to Lord Snowdon, one of which especially captures something I've thought for a long time about photography...

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Welcome to 'Where When How Wednesday'. In these weekly posts I'll be interviewing creatives about their journey into the creative world, their works, and what makes them tick. This week I'm interviewing Leeds based photographic model, Delta Topaz.

...I'd seen the likes of SINderella Rockafella, October Divine and Romanie Smith and always wondered...until about 5 months ago when I decided to get into it properly...Delta Topaz was born.'

Most things, especially online, tend to fall into specific genres and/or gets described as being a specific style. The trouble with this is it's quite subjective, the style someone views something to be can often differ to the style the person creating it views it as. How would you describe the work you are putting out there?

'As my initial images were of the boudoir variety I didn't want to be typecast into that very genre. So I made it my mission to be a versatile and diverse as I could...to which I believe I have achieved.'

Photography, modelling and their related skills, as with most things, can have their share of problems. I personally have a particular problem with self confidence. This confidence issue can and has caused me issues with my photography. Do you find any aspects of modelling particularly challenging?

'I do think it is a challenging career and/or hobby. Initially it was confidence and I felt a little like a rabbit caught in the headlights, and that showed...until I went into my next shoot and so on. Each bit of advice I've taken on board and worked on, as my style and ethos is constantly evolving.'

Sometimes images hold a special significance to us. It can be the first image we ever made, it can be an image drawing attention to a cause close to our hearts, it can simply be an image of someone we love. Do you have an image or images that hold a special significance to you?

'One of my images that has recently had a double FPI (an 'award' on Purpleport) from my portfolio, and Spenj's is the "Penthouse & Pavements" image...

Photoshoots can sometimes leave you open to scary or funny situations. What's the scariest or funniest situation you've found yourself in on a shoot?

'The only one I can think of would be a funny situation, both myself and Ellis Duke worked with the lovely John Stanton. He had an image that he wanted to produce and this involved a pair of what could only be described as tree loppers or wire cutters for his interpretation. So he'd taken us to this overgrown location to pretend to break into a car yard...so proceeding to do that John was shooting and then in only what I can describe as a carry on film moment he shouted "oooooh you naughty girl" I couldn't contain myself and broke out laughing!'

We've talked about your start, we've talked about your current work, let's quickly chat about the future. What have you got coming up this year, more of the same? any special projects? And in regards to a more long term plan, where are you hoping your creative journey will take you in the years to come?

'2017 for me is still an early journey to establish myself as a serious model, building my reputation and my portfolio. I'm hoping to tour throughout the year to work with those that don't live within 50 miles or so! I'm just going with the flow for now, this is my hobby!'

I'd like to thank Delta again for taking the time to answer a few questions for me, be sure to check out all the links above for more of her work, as well as the links attached to the images for the other creatives involved in creating them.

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

Welcome to 'Where When How Wednesday'. In these weekly posts I'll be interviewing creatives about their journey into the creative world, their works, and what makes them tick. This week I'm interviewing Manchester based photographer, Rick Hudson.

(IMAGES COMING SOON!!!)

Hi Rick, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for me. We should probably start at the beginning, when and how did you come about getting into the world of photography?

'I was a keen hobbyist photographer from my mid-twenties. I’ve always been an ‘artsy’ type of bloke into literature, music and visual art. I went to see an exhibition of photos by Yousuf Karsh at one of the Manchester galleries (I can’t remember which one now) and they really struck me and awoke my enthusiasm. However, for a while I was strictly amateur. As a job I’m really a writer but photography slowly started to play a more significant role. One thing I did back then was cover bands for magazines so I took my camera to gigs to provide images to go with my articles and reviews. Also I used photography as a means of not going completely mad: writing is a solitary occupation, you can spend days on end in your flat or house in total isolation if you are not careful. Photography became a strategy to get me out of my flat and mix with people. Slowly photography became more significant and I actually started to make money out of it and get published in magazines and displayed in galleries. So it kind of happened by accident.'

Photography, especially online, tends to fall into specific genres and/or gets described as being a specific style. The trouble with this is it's quite subjective, the style someone views an image to be can often differ to the style the person creating it views it as. How would you describe the work you are putting out there?

'Yes, I agree, it is a tricky one. I think with me I can describe myself as a bit of a traditionalist – although many of the models I have worked with tend to be more ‘punky’ or ‘alt’ in appearance, my style is not particularly experimental or challenging. At heart my photos are classic portraits and I don’t claim them to be anything else. I’m not out to be ground-breaking or revolutionary.'

Photography can have it's share of problems. I personally have a particular problem with self confidence. This confidence issue can and has caused me issues with my photography. Do you find any aspects of photography particularly challenging?

'Self-confidence is not really a problem for me, although I would hope that I am not arrogant and retain a healthy critical attitude towards my work. The principal challenge for me at the moment is trying to broaden my portfolio. My work is predominated by photographs of attractive women, who by and large tend to be in their twenties or early thirties. This is fine on one hand, but I do want to photograph more men and older women. I’m finding it hard to find willing subjects though.'

In my series 'Foto Inspiration Friday' I share the people, images, places etc that I find give me inspiration. Who, or what, or where do you draw inspiration from?

'I still love the work of Karsh, but also have a huge admiration for David Bailey, Terrance Donovan and Richard Avedon. I also adore the photographs of Peter Lindbergh, who I think is an absolute genius. So, your classic b&w portrait and fashion photographers are my most immediate and obvious sources of inspiration. However, I’m also hugely inspired by the cities I live and work in. Manchester is my home and I love working ‘on the streets’ as it were. I love it's dramatic and contrasting cityscape: love the way you have a load of huge gothic Victorian buildings right next to ultra-modern architecture. I love its business and creative and often subversive atmosphere. I not only utilize it as a dynamic backdrop to my work, but also when possible try and portray that immediacy and excitement in my work itself. But I love cities generally. I’ve adopted Berlin as something of a second home. It’s got the same kind of vibe as Manchester.'

Sometimes images hold a special significance to us. It can be the first image we ever made, it can be an image drawing attention to a cause close to our hearts, it can simply be an image of someone we love. Do you have an image or images that hold a special significance to you?

'Oh, I can think of thousands of images that strike me for one reason or another, but if I had to choose one it would be a snap shot I have of the particular woman in my life. Predictable possibly, but the truth.'

Photoshoots can sometimes leave you open to scary or funny situations. What's the scariest or funniest situation you've found yourself in because of photography?

'I don’t have any horror stories, but years ago I was at a gig that I was meant to be covering and I got so engrossed in talking to this girl I fancied I didn’t take any photographs. That was rather embarrassing.'

We've talked about your start in photography, we talked about your current work, let's quickly chat about the future. What have you got coming up this year? More of the same? Any special projects? Plus in regards to a more long term plan, where are you hoping your creative journey will take you in the years to come?

'I hope to be spending more time in Berlin and getting to know people in photography there. But I hope to be working in Nice and New Orleans as well. In terms of the long term plan, I still do a lot of band photography – but I do feel I’m getting too old for that now. I’m no longer as enthusiastic about that kind of thing as I used to be. I want to get involved with theatre photography. Also, my great masterplan is to do portraits of some intellectual figures: scientists, artists, writers. Those are the people who really interest me.'

We can't really talk photography without discussing gear, so...what is your 'go to' equipment that you find yourself gravitating towards the most on shoots?

'I like to keep things simple. When I’m on a location shoot I tend just to take my trusty Nikon D3300. It’s obviously only an entry level camera and some might turn their noses up at it, but it does me fine. I also tend to only the 18-55mm kit lens and one zoom (usually 55-200 or 18-105) on a shoot. This is partly because I like to move about quite a lot and don’t want to be weighed down by heavy gear. It is also because I like to work on the streets of Manchester, and sometimes work in some precarious areas, it’s therefore a good policy to stick with relatively cheap gear rather than display yourself as a target worth robbing. For gigs I stick with the same stuff as gigs can be quite rowdy places, as I’m sure you know.On the other hand, if I’m working in a studio I will have more lenses to hand and work with a full-frame DSLR. A couple of primes. I tend to hire what I need rather than buy it, as this gives me flexibility without the investment of thousands of pounds.I used to own loads more stuff, I had the Sony Alpha 700, loads of lenses and my own studio kit. But I took the decision to switch to Nikon for various reasons and decided to keep things basic rather than lash out on loads of gear. There’s a whole bunch of studios in my area and plenty of places you can hire gear from, so I don’t see the point of owning stuff like that. Admittedly, I can see myself expanding my kit in the future, and I do have plans to have my own studio, but that can all wait for the time being. Right now I’m investing cash in travel.'

Now for the shameless self promotion part of the interview...where can people find more of you and your work?

'This will surprise you; I don’t actually have a website. Not at the moment anyway, I had a massive fall-out with my former service provider and at the moment a I’m just working on constructing a new one. Right now all I have is Purpleport, a Facebook page and stuff on Model Mayhem and the like.'

I'd like to thank Rick again for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. Be sure to check out the links for more of his work.

Friday, 6 January 2017

Welcome to 'Foto Inspiration Friday', the series in which I not only use a rarely used alternate spelling of photo for the sake of alliteration, but I share with you anything and everything I find inspirational, be it a person, an image, a song, a quote, a place, a pizza...ok, maybe not a pizza but you get the point.

When it came to losing famous faces, 2016 was a crapstorm of a year. It seemed to be that barely a month could go by without someone from the entertainment world passing away.

When a celebrity passes away, news outlets (and the Daily Mail), in the hopes of getting some juicy titbit, hound anyone with any form of connection to the deceased, be they loved ones, or a pretzel vendor who once sold them a can of Coca Cola. Last year was particularly busy for this, and in December, when the world lost both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, media outlets got to work yet again hunting for every Tom, Dick, and Harry they could find.

Ordinarily, when these stories show up, I tend to avoid them. I have no interest in finding out someone who's work I admired had issues with haemorrhoids, or they once cut someone up in traffic. However, when my wife Jan, aka Proof Reading Wife (helloooooooo! - PRW), showed me an article about Lawrence Schiller (photographer, producer, director, writer) shooting a young Carrie Fisher watching her mother perform, I gave it a look. It's a lovely little article (the NY Times original, not the cut and shut Daily Mail version!) about Carrie's love and admiration of her mother.

Within the article is a quote (finally to the point of my post!) from Schiller that I quite like...

"You're waiting for the moment in which something you've seen is illustrated. And then you don't even stop and think. The image is there and your camera is like a sponge to absorb the moment."

Wednesday, 4 January 2017

Welcome to 'Where When How Wednesday'. In these weekly posts I'll be interviewing creatives about their journey into the creative world, their works, and what makes them tick. This week I'm interviewing photographic model, Poppy Haskell.

Hi Poppy, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for me. We should probably start at the beginning...when and how did you come about getting into the world of modelling?

'I was spotted at the king’s theatre when I was performing in a ballet. I was playing the role of a dolly in a toy room and a lady slipped into my dressing room at half time and said that she wanted my face for her teen clothing brand! I then started modelling for prom dress boutiques in the local area and it all took off from there!'

Most things, especially online, tend to fall into specific genres and/or gets described as being a specific style. The trouble with this is it's quite subjective, the style someone views something to be can often differ to the style the person creating it views it as. How would you describe the work you are putting out there?

'I think this is a great question. This is probably what I struggle with most about modelling – I often shoot to implied topless when I am of the understanding it will be edited in right way as to not look too ‘raw’ and unprofessional. I also started only shooting to this level when it was a more fashion type shoot and not in any way a ‘glamour’ like shoot or overtly sexual. So although this was mentioned in my levels I feel because these descriptive words are so ambiguous it was interpreted that I was happy to create very suggestive, almost erotic images which wasn’t the case.With that being said my key word to describe what I put out there would be CLASSY, and I hope that whether its beauty, fashion or lingerie that I’m shooting that this theme remains.'

Photography, modelling and their related skills, as with most things, can have their share of problems. I personally have a particular problem with self-confidence. This confidence issue can and has caused me issues with my photography. Do you find any aspects of modelling particularly challenging?

'The thing I find most challenging is staying true to yourself with what you deem acceptable – so many photographers are respectful, talented and wonderful but at least once a month I am put on the spot and asked to push my levels whilst on a shoot, or pose in a way that is obviously not my style or sent messages asking me to do bondage style shoots. It’s surprising how uncomfortable I have felt saying no to people when I am well within my rights to. This is something I am working on daily to improve in! Which I suppose is a confidence issue too, really.'

In my series 'Foto Inspiration Friday' I share the people, images, places etc that I find give me inspiration. Who, or what, or where do you draw inspiration from?

'I draw inspiration from Haris Nukem and Abigail Ratchford both on Instagram. Audrey Hepburn movies and live music always gets me in the mood to create newer and better images. 'Dance me to the end of love’ always leaves my mind whirling with ideas.'

Sometimes images hold a special significance to us. It can be the first image we ever made, it can be an image drawing attention to a cause close to our hearts, it can simply be an image of someone we love. Do you have an image or images that hold a special significance to you?

'I do have one favourite of myself that I feel is quite ‘stripped back’ and I feel I really look like me. Not a makeup artist or photographers interpretation of me.'

Photoshoots can sometimes leave you open to scary or funny situations. What's the scariest or funniest situation you've found yourself in on a shoot?

'I once was booked by a male photographer to take shots of their denim brand at their home studio – I turned up, knocked on the door and they led me to their kitchen where they asked if I wanted a tea. After chatting for a good 20 minutes I wondered why they had not yet talked about their brand or showed me where we would be shooting and why they were so interested in me… Their son then walked through the door with a brunette girl about my age and said ‘come and meet Sarah then, Dad’ Or something like that… The dad had thought I was his son’s new girlfriend who was coming round to meet him that day it was Soooooooooo embarrassing as it looked like I had been playing along!!! And yes this really did happen.'

We've talked about your start, we've talked about your current work, let's quickly chat about the future. What have you got coming up this year, more of the same? Any special projects? Plus in regards to a more long term plan, where are you hoping your creative journey will take you in the years to come?

'I’m hoping to get some bigger name brands under my belt and be a bit more "known". I have also been toying with a few presenting jobs and have a few tv presenting auditions lined up in the new year. One station are looking for ‘well spoken, sky sports sizzle’ so let’s hope that’s me! I also want to be a monster energy girl so if anyone can make that happen holla at me!'

Now for the shameless self promotion part of the interview...where can people find you and your work?

'You'll see me at all the British touring car events next year and perhaps on ITV2 sports. Often I'm on the Pushka fashion boutique website but head over to my Instagram for more updates: @Poppyhaskell'

I'd like to thank Poppy again for taking the time to answer a few questions for me, be sure to check out all the links above for more of her work, as well as the links attached to the images for the other creatives involved in creating them.